Hen&#39;s nest.



JAMES A. BICKERDIKE, OF MILLERSVILIJE, ILLINOIS.

HENS NEST.

Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedDec. 25, 1906.

Application filed eptember 22,1905. Serial No. 279 701.

To all zchom it may concern;

Be it known that I,'JAMEs A. BIOKERDIKE,

a citizen of the United States, residingv at Millersville, in the county of Christian, State ,of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful. Improvements in Hens N ests'; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

' This invention relates to nests for poultry.

One. obj ect of theinvention is to provide a nest embodying an automatically-operated door adapted to close when the fowl is in the nest to prevent entrance of other fowls thereto.

Another object of theinvention resides in the provision of a. nest of the character stated wherein the door may be readily closed by the fowl entering the same and whereby the door may be locked automatically to revent escape of the fowl.

A stil the character stated embodying such characteristics ,that the fowlmay be automatically trapped andfllocked 'Within the nest simultaneously, whereby it may be readily determined which fowl lays the egg.

With these and other objects .in' view the present invention consists in the combina-: tion and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown inv the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it belng understood that changesin the form, pro

portion,size, and minor details may be made within the scope of the claims without de parting from the the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my invention with the top door opened. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the invention with the upper door in its opened position. Fig. 3 is a side viewof the invention, illustrating the upper door in its closed position and the front door in its open position.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 3. Fig." 5 is a detail view of the trigger mechanism, including its arm. I Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings, the present lnvention .comprisesa compartment 1, having an opening 2 in its top and anopening 8 in its front, there being a strip 4 arranged across the bot- 1 further object is to provide anest of ment 1, after spirit or sacrificing-any of rear thereof, and 1n order tom of the front opening 3 andconnectedin any suitable manner to thesides v5 and'6 of the compartment.

The door 7 for the front opening is hingedly mounted at its top by means of suitable eyes 8 to the rod 9, which is horizon tally disposed at the upper end of thesaid opening 3 and secured in ahysuitable manner at the upper ends 'of the front faces of the sides 5 and 6 of the compartment. It will be seen that the door 7 is preferably of slatted form and thatwhen it is closed the loweredges of the slats lie against the outer face of the aforesaid strip 4.

. In-order to hold the door 7 in its open position, I. provide the door at its forward edge with a staple 10 for the reception of theouter end of the'curved trigger-arm 11, Whose inner end is provided with an .eye 12 for engagement of the eye 13 of the trigger-arm support 14. As shown in the drawings, the trigger-arm support 14 is formed of a single piece of wire which is bers 15, which diverge from the loop 13, as at 16, for a portion of their length and are thence bent around a rod 17, which is disposed at the upper rear end-of the compartwhich the members extend in parallel relation for the greater portion of their remaining length and havetheir end portions bent inwardly at right angles toward each other, as at 18. This trigger-arm support isso mounted upon the aforesaid rod 17 that it may havesliding movement longitudinally thereof.

The above-mentioned rod 17 is mounted in suitable eyebolts 18, secured upon the top faces of the aforesaid sides 5 and 16 near the that the top opening 2 of the compartment 1 may be openedor closed, as desired, I provide an upper closure 19, which is hingedly connected any suitable manner to theaforesaid rod 17 adjacent the supporting means 18 of the latter It will therefore be seen that the rod 17 is disposed between the rear edge of the closure 19 and a suitable strip 20, which latter is secured in any suitable manner to the upper faces of the door 19 rests in its'open position. It will be seen also that the upper closure 19 extends outwardly beyond the front ofthe "compartment to completely cover the first-named closure 7 when the latter is bent upon itself at its middle to form a loop 13 and spaced mem- I sides 5 and 6 at the extreme rear end of the sides, and against which stripthe in its open posi.

opening.

tion, so that if afowl should attempt to rest upon the nest there would not be a possibility of the firstnamed door 7 being accidentally closed. In other words, if a fowl should attempt to rest directly upon the front closure 7 there might be a possibility of acci dental disconnection between the front closure 7 and the trigger-arm 11, whereas by constructing the upper door 19 in such manner as to project at its forward end over the front closure 7 this possibility is obviated.

Connected to the sides 5 and 6 of the compartment 1 are forwardly-directed strips 21 and 22, which are designed to prevent tilting of the nest in theevent of a fowl resting upon the forward end of the upperclosure 19.

When the trap is 'set, the upper door 19 is closed over the open front door 7 in the manner'already stated to permit of the entrance of a fowl into the compartment 1. Now as the fowl enters the compartment or nest 1 it touches the trigger-arm support within the compartment, forcing the said support towardrthe rear wall of the compartment, and consequently causing a withdrawal of the trigger-arm 11 from engagement with the eye or staple 10 of the door 7, causing the latter to drop over the closure 3. If desired, the fowl may be taken out of the trap through thetop opening 2 by opening the door 19. The weight of the door 19 is sufficient to prevent exit of the fowl through the top opening of the nest and does not require any fasten ing. However, there may be times when it p is desired to fasten the door 7 against accidental opening. To accomplish this purpose,

I provide a lock-bar whose body portion 23 is journaled through a perforation 24 in the back of the compartment or nest 1 and in the eye 25, arranged in alinement with the perforation 24;, and secured in any suitable manner upon the cleat 26, secured to the front face of the side 6, there being another cleat 27, corresponding to the cleat 26, secured upon the opposite side 5 of the compartment or nest. This lock-bar has the opposite ends of its body portion bent at right angles, as indicated by the refereneecharacters 28 and 29, the right-angularly bent portion 28 being designed to be dropped to a position diagonally across the door7 when the said door is released, whereby the latter is locked against Of course as the bent portion 28 of the locking means swings the opposite leg 29 swings correspondingly. It is obvious, therefore, that the door 7 may be locked r against the outward swing when the trigger mechanism is sprung, the long arm of the locking means being arranged horizontally Withthe front horizontal rod upon the upper yend of the door 7 fallingas the front door falls and being limited in its swinging move- -ment by means of a suitable stop 30, disposed .on the back of'the nest for en agement by the short end of the arm of the locking means to hold the said long leg of the locking means upon an incline across the front door 7, thereby positively locking the legs against opening. It will be observed that the body portion 23 of the locking means is arranged above the aforesaid horizontal rod and extends beneath and out of contact with the horizontal rod 1.7.

From the foregoing it will be understood that the fowls enter through the front opening and that they may be taken out or per mitted to pass out through the upper opening of the nest. Now since the fowls are locked within the nest automatically upon their entrance thereinto it is obvious that it can be readily determined which fowl lays the egg, it being understood that the locking mechanism is actuated at the same time the front door is closed through the trigger mechanism. If desired, a series of these nests may be connected up in a horizontal line, or, if preferred, a series of nests maybe arranged vertically, in which latter event the top closure 19 of the lower nest will form a support in advance of the front openings of the nest next above, and that in such an arrangement the fowls would have to be taken out or permitted to pass from the nest through the front door 7.

If at any time it is desired that the hen be not trapped when entering the nest, after the trap is set in the usual manner swing the trigger-arm support 14 forward and upward, causing the trigger-arm 1 1 to project through. the staple 10 and causing the trigger-arm support 14 to rest against the top of compartment 1 out of reach of the hen, thus allowing the hen to pass in and out of the nest at will.

What is claimed is 1. A trap-nest comprising a compartment having an opening in its top and an opening in its front, a door hingedly connected. over the front opening, a door hingedly connected over the top opening, and a trigger mechanism depending within the compartment and having a forwardly-directed trigger-arm for cooperation with the front door to hold the latter in its open position and arranged therewith for disengagement therefrom upon movement in one direction of the trigger mechanism.

2. A trap-nest comprising a compartment having an opening in its top and an opening in its front, a door hingedly connected over the front opening, a door hingedly connected over the top opening, a trigger mechanism depending within the compartment and having a forwardly-directed trigger-arm for cooperation with the front door to hold the latter in its open position and arranged therewith for disengagement therefrom upon movement in one direction of the trigger mechanism, and means for locking the front door in its closed position.

IIO

3. A trap-nest comprising a compartment having an opening in its top and an opening in its front, a door hingedly connected with the compartment in position to close the front opening, a trigger mechanism for holding the said door in open position, and a door hingedly connected with the compartment in osition to close the top opening, said door being arranged to cover the first-named door when the same is in open position.

4. A trap-nest comprising a compartment having an opening in its top and an opening in its front, a door hingedly connected with the compartment in position to close the front opening, ing the said door 1n open position, and a door hingedly connected with the compartment in position to close the top opening, said door i being extended beyond the front end of said a trigger mechanism for hold-- compartment to cover the first-named door when the same is in open position.

5. A trap-nest comprising a compartment having an opening in its front, a door hinged to the compartment in position to close the opening, a trigger mechanism for normally holding the door in open position and for actuation torelease the same, and a member supported by the compartment and having a portion arranged to drop across the door when the door is dropped and to holdrit in closed position.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES A. BIOKERDIKE. 

